By Ewemade Okuns.
It was an event carefully packaged to give true meaning or essence to the work of God, to assemble men and women of all shades to share wealth of evangelical and spiritual experiences.
At the heart of this mission was the commitment to teach people how to identify vision, rediscover themselves, maintain personal relationship with God and live a purpose-driven and prosperous life.
It was an event which defied the terrible weather of Boston, with enthusiastic multitudes of people streaming in under the heavy rain, expressing the greatness of God and rendering prayers and adoration that they were able to attend.
And it was an event which left participants embracing the teaching and power of God in an attempt to help them unleash their vision and harness their great potential towards personal advancement in life.
To those who attended the conference with the theme: “where is your vision,” hosted by Fire of Life Ministry, it was the most successful, most inspirational, most informative and educative forum they ever attended.
At the occasion which was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Woburn Massachusetts, on December 6, 2014, the Minister in charge of Fire of Life Outreach, Mrs. Naomi Osagiede told the congregation of believers and those seeking God in their lives about the purpose of the conference.
The woman of God presented an array of religious Ministers from different evangelical ministries and churches who demonstrated their wealth of experience and the power of the Holy Spirit in their talks on different topics.
One after another the men and women of God not only shared the Grace of God, but Swept open the hearts of participants to receive the message of the Almighty.
Among the pastors present was Apostle Winston Trought who started the conference with opening prayer, followed by praise and worship of God, led by The True Worshipers, an Interdenominational Mass Choir, founded by Prophetess Bola Olajide.
Prophetess Olajide is also the President and Founder of The True Vine Evangelical Ministries in Boston, Massachusetts.
Following prayer, Pastor Jacqueline Trought took over. An Author and Naturopathic Health Fanatic, she is currently assisting her husband, Apostle Winston Trought, at the Covenant on the Rock Family Church in Cape Code, Massachusetts.
Of Jamaican heritage, Pastor Trought taught about “Knowing your Vision.”
“What is a Vision?” She asked the audience at the beginning of the conference. According to her, Vision differs from sight.
Sight is the effective function of one of the five senses, but sight is dependent on the eyes, but sight is not Vision, when you can see, it doesn’t mean that you have Vision,” She told the crowd.
“Vision is dependent on the spirit of man to visualize something to move beyond the senses and capture the essence of what you have seen beyond color.”
Effective Vision, she said could take a dream, having sight doesn’t give you Vision. “Some people have Vision; their Vision is not from the Almighty God. In order for one to have Vision, that person has to be in the spirit,” she hinted.
She also named three Purposes of Vision, namely:
(1) To introduce God to man, in a way that he has never be introduced before.
(2) God will, will be done on the earth.
‘The will was done by Mary and Zechariah when the Holy Spirit came and gave them an assignment,” she said.
She further delved into the Holy scripture to support her teaching: “The bible said without Vision people perished, without Vision people die. Israel was about to perish without a Vision, and also people drown without Vision.”
(3) To build intimacy with God. God introduces himself to man and intimacy and the will is done on earth. (1Isaiah 43).
Pastor Keith Banks Obanor was second on the row of Ministers who spoke at the occasion.
A Nigerian of Benin ethnicity, he is Senior Pastor of Victory World Church Int’l in Canton, Massachusetts and President of Victory World Outreach Ministries – a Global Outreach Organization with Ministries in Uganda and Kenya, East Africa.
His topic was Avoiding Distraction. Avoiding distraction that come against our Vision, (Genesis 12 versus 1-5), (Habakkuk 2 versus1)
“Vision will take you to what you are not used to. Most people don’t know when to quit or to carry on! “If you don’t know who you are, you don’t know what God has for you,” he said.
He talked about the virtue of patience, hard work and persistence in pursuing one’s dream, saying: “whatever is not worth waiting for is not worth having. Anything worth waiting for, then you wait for it, meaning that if you must get something, you have to wait for it.”
“Things don’t come so easy without laboring,” he said. He also talked about the implication of success which everyone craves and the need to prepare for it.
His words: “people talk about success all the time. The truth is if we have the success what would we do with it? Can we handle Success?”
The man of God defined Vision as a picture or revelation of those things that are yet to come. Back to distraction, he noted that its cause was mostly traceable to wrong crowd and advised people to identify wrong crowd and stay away from them in order to achieve their goals in life
In addition, he continued, there are some people who have sight but they have no Vision. The Vision that takes you beyond where you are to where God wants you to be, that is the Vision you should fight for.
On a second note he said “Broken Focus is also known as double minded men, and is unstable.”
Pastor Banks stressed the importance of choosing and staying on a lane in other to remain focused and attract the good things of life.
‘Some people don’t follow their inner mind, instead they follow what their friends or families are doing. When you know who you are, then you will know what purpose God has for you. So pick a Vision and stay with it,” he advised.
Pastor Willy Zorrilla is the founder and pastor of House of the Holy Spirit International Ministry who lives in Houston Texas with is family.
He spoke on God’s purpose for man, which include knowing God and doing His will on earth.
“God has never done anything without a purpose. Jesus came on earth for a purpose. When you came from heaven through your mother’s womb, the angels were all happy because a new baby was coming to earth with a great purpose”
He warned against the activities of the devil and the need to identify and rebuke them.
The devil, he said has a problem with the children of God because “we were created with a purpose. The purpose is the first thing that God gave us, his children.”
He urged participants not allow the lust for money or material needs blind their vision, saying that often times when people craves too much money and it does not come they begin to question God.
There are some questions that go with this message: “Why were you born? Were you born to have money? Money is just a tool in the past.” he said.
In a brief interview with Alltimepost.com, Pastor, Pastor Zorrilla described the event “as a meeting that is capable to equip the people and empowers them, for the purpose in God, and their reasons for being here on earth.”
Alltimepost.com Correspondent talked to some leaders of the Boson community who attended the occasion to get their comments.
Barrister Dickson Iyawe, a Nigerian-American community leader/activist is Chairman, Council of President, Edo National Association Worldwide. To him the event was a huge success, an excellent one.
“It was an event that was well organized, and it also shows the dynamism of the organizers who put the event together, Naomi Osagiede and her husband, Ewaen Osagiede,” he remarked.
At the event, you could feel the spirit of the lord at the venue, says Dickson Iyawe. He also commended the organizers for putting together a good group of Ministers to deliver the message (Knowing your Vision).
Barr. Iyawe also stated that the event had the potentials to grow and become even bigger in future, compared with the way it is right now.
Mrs. Esther Okaro, a Christian, community activist and healthcare professional, said that the event was exceptional and that, she was blessed by attending.
According to her, she could feel the anointing of the lord inside the building.
“Another point is that, it was well organized and the turnout was great,” she remarked.
Mrs. Okaro also thank God for giving her the opportunity to attend the event.
In her comment, another participant, a Christian, community leader/activist, Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Lynn, Massachusetts and businesswoman, Mrs. Omo Idusuyi had this to say: “the event was an excellent one,” adding that it should be made an annual event.
“It would be wonderful if the program/event continues every year, so it would help to create awareness for a lot of people, and to make the people create vision.”
Mrs. Idusuyi said she was highly blessed with the words of God.
Pastor Bridget Aikhionbare, Founder of Born Again International Ministries, with headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts and Prophetess Bola Olajide were among the guest speakers at the occasion.
The event featured among other things, raffles and give-away of IPad/Tablets to those who won prizes by Fire of Life Ministry.
